Consortium Promotes Knapp to Coastal Resilience Program Manager

Landon Knapp has been promoted to Coastal Resilience Program manager. Knapp will continue to extend science-based information and provide hands-on operational and technical support to coastal communities, resource managers, and interest groups in South Carolina and the region. He also will contribute to research driven by community needs, and provide leadership for planning, development, and implementation of activities for the Coastal Climate and Resilience program. Knapp has been employed by the Consortium and the College of Charleston since 2019.

“This promotion is extremely well earned by Landon. He will continue to provide valuable information and services to our coastal communities, while also leading the overall strategic direction for our Coastal Resilience Extension programming,” said Matt Gorstein, director for Development and Extension.

Knapp will supervise the following staff: Amanda Guthrie, Ph.D., Coastal Climate and Resilience program manager and specialist; Katie Finegan, P.E., Coastal Processes program specialist; Ke’Ziyah Williamson, Coastal Watershed Community Engagement specialist; Duncan Williamson, Coastal Resilience graduate assistant; resilience graduate students at the College of Charleston’s Lowcountry Hazards Center; and new staff who join the resilience team.

“Landon has a deep understanding of our communities’ coastal science needs and the skills necessary to provide services to assist them,” said Executive Director Susan Lovelace, Ph.D. “His longevity with our program and the experiences he brings to our team will provide strong leadership for the future.”

Blue Carbon Law Symposium Scheduled for May 17-18, 2023

Registration is now open for the Sea Grant Blue Carbon Law Symposium to be held in Athens, Georgia, on May 17-18, 2023. The symposium will highlight the connections between blue carbon science, policy, and law, and explore impacts of this rapidly evolving field on communities, businesses, governments, resource managers, and other stakeholders.

Blue carbon systems are natural coastal habitats, such as salt marshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, that are able to capture and store atmospheric carbon. Investing in blue carbon systems protects these habitats and surrounding coastal communities and helps mitigate some climate change impacts, including sea-level rise and worsening storm surge.

Topics the symposium will cover include the legal and policy context of carbon credit markets and how blue carbon fits within these markets; the state-of-knowledge of blue carbon science; specific blue carbon projects being developed in the U.S. and internationally; and challenges, barriers, and social equity needs of successful blue carbon projects. For more information, contact Brita Jessen, Interdisciplinary Research and Partnership lead, at (843) 953-6417.

Water Chats Webinar Series Concludes, Planning for 2023 Underway

The 2022 Water Chats webinar series featuring statewide professional and student research has concluded. The virtual sessions encouraged networking among participants and speakers, exposure to current water-quality research, and research-to-application opportunities across four focus areas: contaminants of emerging concern, harmful algal blooms, stormwater control measures, and source-water protection. A total of 475 people participated in the eight webinars, and represented government agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector industries, academic institutions, and natural-resource management organizations.

The Water Chats program was created in partnership with Clemson Cooperative Extension Service and Clemson University’s South Carolina Water Resources Center to share water-quality research that can inform natural-resource management decisions. In October 2022, a Water Chats panel session was convened at the South Carolina Water Resources Conference to help gather information needs from various stakeholders for the next cycle of the webinar series. In addition, the organizers of Water Chats are coordinating a special issue of the Journal of South Carolina Water Resources, to be published in summer 2023, that will highlight water-quality research, management applications, and communication and outreach strategies. Contact Brooke Saari, Coastal Environmental Quality Program specialist, at (843) 953-6406 for more information.

New Book Club Expands Horizons, Builds Community

What started as a temporary professional development opportunity for educators during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a long-term offering of the Consortium’s Marine Education program. The All Booked Up Coastal Reading Club kicked-off in March 2021, bringing people together via Zoom^© to network and discuss books on environmental and natural resources topics. Although coordinated by the Consortium, the format of the meetings—as well as the book selections—are chosen based on input from the club’s 40 members.

Four books have been read and discussed so far: J. Drew Lanham’s The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature, Mary Roach’s Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Will Harlan’s Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island, and Marcia Myers Bonta’s American Women Afield: Writings by Pioneering Women Naturalists. Authors often join the meetings for an in-depth discussion of their books. The next book will be selected this spring and a meeting will be scheduled for fall 2023. There is no charge to join the club, and educators receive their first book courtesy of the Consortium. For more information, visit the All Booked Up Coastal Reading Club webpage or contact E.V. Bell at (843) 953-2085.